By Constantinos Psillides
BRITISH BASES police arrested 35-year-old attempted murder suspect Giorgos Akhtar on Sunday, when he tried to enter the government controlled areas at the Pergamos checkpoint near Xylofagou village.
Giorgos is one of the main suspects in a murder attempt on a 37-year-old betting shop owner from Xylofagou in 2013. He and his brother Elias are also wanted for questioning in relation with a series of burglaries. They both fled to the north in December 2013.
According to the police report, Giorgos was arrested while riding in a taxi on his way from the north to the government controlled areas. Bases police waited for his taxi to clear the Pergamos checkpoint before arresting him. Giorgos reportedly resisted arrest and tried to flee but police finally apprehended him.
He is to appear before court on Monday.
The notorious Akhtar brothers had a number of run-ins with the law, beginning in 2007 when they attacked police officers who raided their house in search for drugs.
Joined by their then 57-old-year father, the Akhtars attacked police officers with swords they had in their houses.
The father was arrested but the Akhtars fled to the Greek island of Mykonos where they were spotted a month later by two police officers by accident. The police officers were on the Greek island on holiday with their families.
At the time of their arrest, the pair had in their possession Lithuanian passports and falsified travel documents which they were believed to have obtained while in Turkey.
They were brought back to Cyprus where Giorgos was sentenced to four and a half years and Elias three and a half years in prison.
Even in jail the Akhtars caused troubles for authorities, leading a prison protest to complain about the state of Central Prisons. Giorgos Akhtar also sent a letter to the media protesting prison conditions and claiming that they had been mistreated by prison guards.
They were released in 2012.

By Iacovos Constantinou

APOEL and Apollon, the two Cyprus teams with European games mid-week, managed to collect all three points against Ermis Aradippou and Ayia Napa respectively, defeating their opponents by the same scoreline, 1-0.

For the first forty five minutes APOEL were second best to Ermis who was by far the livelier team, well organised in defence and always quick and dangerous on the counter. The visitor’s best chance fell to striker Ibraimi who shot tamely at Pardo when clean through.

In the second half APOEL upped the tempo and took complete control forcing Ermis to retreat. The home team missed a number of chances before Cillian Sheridan, who had come on as a second half substitute, scored with just two minutes on the clock after good work by Vinicius.

Apollon got off to a blistering start hitting the post as early as the second minute and missing a number of chances before Gaston Sangoy scored from the penalty spot in the 28th minute.

The Limassol team continued to dominate and should have increased their lead were it not for excellent goalkeeping by Athanasiou and some woeful finishing by the Apollon forward line.

They almost paid for their poor finishing when the visitors created two excellent goal-scoring opportunities in the last few minutes of the game but were denied by Apollon’s keeper Vale.

AEL’s coach Ivaylo Petev said that the two early goals his team scored allowed his players to ‘relax and enjoy’ the game. AEL dominated play from start to finish never allowing their opponents a chance to sneak back into the game.

Doxa’s new coach Boban Krismarevic accepted that his team were outplayed for long periods of the game by a much better outfit and that they will seek to win points against teams that share the same target as them, that of first division survival.

AEL’s goals came from Danielzinio, Cantou, Gigiewicz and Barcelos.

In the last game of the weekend Nea Salamina and Omonia shared the spoils at the Ammochostos stadium.
Omonia took an early lead through Pote but Nea Salamina fought back and equalized in the 55th minute through a superb free-kick by their captain Leon.

In the incident leading up to the Nea Salamina goal, Omonia’s defender Stepanovic was shown a straight red as he was adjudged by the referee to have intentionally handled the ball, denying the home team a clear scoring opportunity.

Tonight Anorthosis face AEK with the team from Famagusta hoping for its first points while Ethnikos Achnas may return to the top of the table if they can beat first division novices Othellos Athienou.

By Andreas Vou

APOEL are gearing up for another famous Champions League night as they prepare to take on the mighty FC Barcelona at the Camp Nou in what will be one of the biggest tests in the club’s history.

The Cypriot champions are back in Europe’s elite competition for the third time in six years and after a two year absence following their famous 2011-12 campaign where they reached the last eight of the competition against all odds.

The two sides have never met before though APOEL’s last match in the Champions League proper was away from home at another one of Spanish football’s great landmarks, the Santiago Bernabeu stadium, where the Cypriots suffered a 5-2 defeat against Real Madrid.

Norwegian defender John Arne Riise was snapped up on a free transfer two weeks ago by APOEL – the 33-year-old scored the winner for Liverpool in a 1-2 win over Barça in 2007 but is unlikely to feature in Wednesday’s match due to lack of fitness.

Another APOEL player to have tasted victory at the home of the Catalans is midfielder Tiago Gomes who was part of the Hercules team which beat Barcelona 0-2 in 2010 in a Spanish first division match. Gomes’ compatriot Nuno Morais featured on the bench for Chelsea in a 2-1 defeat against Barça in 2005 while goalkeeper Urko Pardo was in Barcelona’s reserve sides for eight years.

Other than Riise, centre-back Tasos Papazoglou is also a major doubt for the trip after having to withdraw from Saturday’s league match against Ermis early on due to an abdominal strain.

The Catalan side have been the most successful in the Champions League over the last decade, having won the competition three times while last year’s exit at the quarter-final stage was the first time they failed to reach at least the semis in seven seasons.

Barcelona are used to comfortable victories on their own patch but had to dig deep to earn a win over Athletic Club de Bilbao on Saturday. The Basques kept the home side at bay for 79 minutes, until Brazilian star Neymar, on as a second half substitute, scored twice in five minutes to maintain Barça’s perfect start to the season.

Despite their past successes, Barcelona have undergone a number of changes over the summer with seven new signings as well as a change of manager. Luis Enrique took over at the helm from Tata Martino in the summer and Wednesday’s match will be his first ever in the Champions League in his managerial career.

Dani Alves missed Saturday’s game through injury but is expected to make a return to the lineup. Javier Mascherano was forced off at half-time after a blow to the head and is doubtful while Thomas Vermaelen remains out with a hamstring injury.

In their last 30 Champions League home matches, Barça have won 22, drawn six and lost just twice. APOEL have played six group matches away from home in the competition and, despite having never won, APOEL have impressively drawn five times and lost just once.

The Cabinet was scrambling on Tuesday to avoid an all-out strike by public servants, authorising Finance Minister Harris Georgiades to engage them in dialogue.

Government spokesman Nicos Christodoulides said that  further discussion was possible on the issue of the retirement bonus. Public servants called a 24-hour warning strike for Friday after the government said their retirement bonuses could be taxed.

Christodoulides said the Cabinet considered the call to strike “hasty” and called on the unions to respond to the invitation by the Cabinet to discuss their concerns with the finance minister “in order to avoid problems that may arise from a decision taken on the basis of incorrect impressions”.

Asked about a later proposal to pay the lump sum in five equal installments, the spokesman said the Cabinet expected the unions to respond positively to a dialogue with the finance minister.

The Cabinet also discussed the 2015 budget during Tuesday’s session.

More later

The elected official in charge of policing in the northern English town of Rotherham quit yesterday after weeks of resisting political pressure to stand down over a scandal involving the sexual exploitation of as many as 1,400 children.

Shaun Wright was in charge of children’s services for the local authority during the time some of the abuse was occurring. An independent report last month revealed the crimes had been going on for 16 years.

Wright said he was stepping down as Police and Crime Commissioner for South Yorkshire because it was detracting from the focus of supporting the victims of the abuse in Rotherham, the scale of which shocked the country, and bringing those responsible to justice.

“With this in mind, I feel that it is now right to step down … for the sake of those victims, for the sake of the public of South Yorkshire and to ensure that the important issues outlined in the report about tackling child sexual exploitation can be discussed and considered in full,” he said in a statement.

Police commissioners were brought in by Prime Minister David Cameron’s government to oversee the work of police forces and set their priorities, but the revelation that they could not be sacked in the wake of criticism levelled at Wright has led to criticism.

Tourist arrivals in Cyprus have reached 373.086 in August 2014 compared to 352.215 in August 2013, recording an increase of 5.9%, according to data released by the Statistical Service.

Based on the results of the Passengers Survey there was an increase of 6.5% tourist arrivals from the UK (from 127.118 in August 2013 to 135.424 in August 2014), an 11.6% increase from Russia (from 99.215 to 110.725) and a whopping 61.7% increase from Israel (from 8.164 to 13.201 this year).

However, there was a decrease of almost 10% in arrivals from Sweden (16.642 in August 2014 compared to 18.436 in August 2013), a 3.9% decrease from Germany (8.356 compared to 8.693), 14.5% decrease from Norway (7.592 compared to 8.876) and an 18.2% decrease from Greece (7.472 compared to 9.129 last year).

In the first eight months of this year (Jan-Aug) arrivals totalled 1.734.880 compared to 1.637.792 in the corresponding period last year, recording an increase of almost 6%.

Cyprus residents’ trips abroad also showed an increase of 17.3% in August 2014 compared to the same month in 2013, based on the findings of the same report.

Just over 155.000 Cyprus residents returned from a trip abroad in August compared to 132.309 in the corresponding month last year.

The most popular destination for Cypriots (53.816) was Greece which also recorded an increase of almost 35% compared to August 2013.

However trips to the United Kingdom fell by 3.2%, from 26.227 to 22.061.

Ukraine’s parliament passed a law on Tuesday that will give “special status” to the separatist-minded eastern regions including a degree of self-governance for a three-year period, parliamentary deputies, who attended the closed session, said.

A second law that was passed would grant an amnesty to separatists who were involved in recent fighting with government forces, the deputies told Reuters.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu was due in the north on Tuesday ahead of a dinner between the two Cypriot leaders in the evening, and on the eve of the resumption of talks under the UN’s new Special Envoy Espen Barth Eide.

Prior to his departure from Ankara on Tuesday, Davutoglu gave a news conference and said his visit to the north had a “high symbolic importance” and was an expression of support to the independence of the ‘TRNC’.

Noting that it would be his first visit to the north as Turkey’s prime minister – he was formerly the foreign minister – Davutoglu said he would be briefed on the talks by Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu.

Davutoglu said that in the early stages of the current negotiations process, he had visited the north many times as foreign minister to try and help accelerate the process.

“Because of the importance which the Cyprus problem has in the EU process for both sectors of Cyprus and for the Eastern Mediterranean, including the relations between Turkey and Greece, and for the UN, which is dealing with the big crises in the world, we will make a strong call for the solution of the Cyprus problem,” he said.

He said 2004 had been the closest ever for a Cyprus solution “with the extremely positive stance of Turkey and the TRNC”.

“Unfortunately, because the Greek Cypriot sector said ‘no’ to the UN plan and that crisis has lasted until today,” he added.

Davutoglu also referred to the economic help Turkey provided consistently to the ‘TRNC’.

A pilots strike at Air France entered its second day on Tuesday, with the two sides apparently no closer to resolving a dispute over cost cuts that has forced the French carrier to cancel 60 percent of flights.

The airline said it expected to operate “at least 40 percent of its flights” on Wednesday, based on three fifths of pilots walking out, as management prepared to hold further talks with unions later on Tuesday.

The pilots are carrying out a week-long strike over Air France’s plans to expand the low-cost operations of its Transavia brand by setting up foreign bases to fight back against fierce competition from European low-cost airlines.

“We’re continuing to negotiate, we have made proposals, we have heard the concerns of pilots who imagined that Transavia France could suddenly replace all of Air France across France,” airline chief Frederic Gagey told Europe 1 radio.

The expansion of Transavia is part of a new strategic plan unveiled last week aimed at boosting earnings that sees Transavia having a fleet of 100 jets by 2017, up from about 50 now, and more than doubling passengers to 20 million, with a goal of lifting it out of the red in 2018.

Gagey sought to reassure pilots, saying the Transavia fleet would be limited to 30 aircraft in France and that the idea was not to replace Air France but to complete the company’s armoury “to attack a new market, the leisure market”.

But he ruled out giving Transavia pilots the same contracts as Air France colleagues.

Pay and conditions for pilots switching to Transavia are seen as the biggest roadblock in the dispute, which Air France has said is costing it about 10-15 million euros ($12.95-19.43 million) a day.

Shares in parent group Air France-KLM were down 3.9 percent by 1032 GMT on Tuesday for a two-day drop of 7 percent.

Gagey said he still hoped to reach operating break even over the full year, although “the chances are diminishing as the strikes go on”.

Officers from the Police bomb-squad along with bomb-sniffing dogs search the area in and around the English School in Nicosia on Tuesday following an anonymous call to daily Politis saying that a bomb would go off at 1pm The school was evacuated and searched but no bomb was found

Ukraine’s parliament on Tuesday ratified a landmark agreement on political association and trade with the European Union, the rejection of which last November by then President Viktor Yanukovich led to his downfall.

The agreement, whose ratification was synchronised with that of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, won unanimous support from the 355 deputies who took part in the vote.

Referring to the deaths of anti-government protesters who came out against Yanukovich’s rejection of the pact with the EU and of soldiers killed in fighting separatists since, President Petro Poroshenko said: “No nation has ever paid such a high price to become Europeans.”

Yanukovich’s retreat from an avowed course of European integration in favour a closer ties with Ukraine’s ex-Soviet master, Russia, triggered months of street protests in which about 100 people were shot dead in the capital Kiev.

After he fled to Russia in February, Moscow denounced the pro-Western “coup” against him and went on to annex Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula and subsequently backed armed pro-Russian separatists in their drive for autonomy from Kiev.

The chain of events has provoked the worst crisis between Russia and the West since the Cold War, with the United States and its Western allies imposing sanctions against Moscow, and led to a conflict in eastern Ukrainewhich more than 3,000 have been killed.

Despite the sanctions against Moscow, the European Union and Ukraine agreed last Friday to delay implementation of the free-trade part of the EU deal until the end of next year in a concession to Russia.

Russia, which says its economy could be badly hurt by a sudden flood of duty-free EU goods onto its market via Ukraine, had threatened to slap import tariffs on Ukrainian goods from Nov. 1, arguing that the pact would squeeze it out of the Ukrainian market.

Under the ambitious agreement, Ukraine will continue to enjoy privileged access to the EU market until January 1, 2016, but, in a concession by Brussels, it will not have to cut duties on imports from the EU in return.

Kiev had been concerned that allowing EU products more cheaply onto its market could undercut local goods, creating more problems for its weak economy.

Referring to this breathing space, Poroshenko told parliament: “The national economy has got a year and a half to become competitive and ready itself for competition with European markets.

“Thank you Europe for this multi-billion bonus!”

Referring to relations with Moscow, he said: “We withstood this powerful pressure (from Russia) and did not give in to blackmail. In the agreement not a single word or single full stop has been changed.”

The outlook on the Cypriot banking system remains negative, primarily reflecting the expectation of a continued rise in problem loans over the next 12-18 months that will exacerbate losses and erode banks’ capital, Moody’s said on Tuesday.

The outlook also captures the vulnerability of the banks’ funding bases, owing to fragile depositor confidence after the resolution of the two largest banks in March 2013, leading to depositor losses and continued controls on cross-border transfers.

Moody’s expects lower corporate earnings, reduced household wealth, high unemployment and falling real-estate prices to be the main drivers of asset-quality erosion for Cypriot banks.

Problem loans now represent over 1.5 times the country’s GDP, the agency said. This follows their significant acceleration to 45.6 per cent of gross loans as of May 2014, after the disruption from the bail-in, the subsequent controls and the economic contraction.

“Conditions will ease gradually, but the banks’ loan loss reserves against credit losses from these exposures remain low at 35 per cent of NPLs as of March 2014, particularly given Moody’s expectations of further declines in real-estate collateral values,” it added.

Moody’s expectation is that elevated credit costs will likely lead to additional capital needs for the system. Although private resources will provide the capital for the principal domestic banks, funds from the government’s support programme earmarked for the banking system by the Troika are likely to be used to recapitalise the co-operative credit institutions.

Moody’s also expects domestic deposits to continue declining as households dip into their savings to maintain living standards.

“The Cypriot banking system’s reliance on euro-system funding, mainly due to Bank of Cyprus’s exposure, although easing, will also remain significant over the outlook horizon,” said the report.

By Irene Klotz and Andrea Shalal

NASA will partner with Boeing and SpaceX to build commercially owned and operated “space taxis” to fly astronauts to the International Space Station, ending U.S. dependence on Russia for rides, officials  said.

The U.S. space agency also considered a bid by privately owned Sierra Nevada Corp, but opted to award long-time aerospace contractor Boeing and California’s SpaceX with contracts valued at a combined $6.8 billion to develop, certify and fly their seven-person capsules.

Boeing was awarded $4.2 billion to SpaceX’s $2.6 billion. SpaceX is run by technology entrepreneur Elon Musk, also the chief executive officer of electric car manufacturer Tesla Motors.

“SpaceX is deeply honored by the trust NASA has placed in us,” said Musk, a South Africa-born, Canadian American billionaire. “It is a vital step in a journey that will ultimately take us to the stars and make humanity a multi-planet species.”

The awards position Boeing and SpaceX to be ready for commercial flight services in 2017, said Kathy Leuders, manager for NASA’s Commercial Crew program. She said both contracts have the same requirements.

“The companies proposed the value within which they were able to do the work and the government accepted that,” Leuders told reporters in a conference call.

The contract has taken on new urgency given rising tensions between the United States and Russia over its annexation of the Crimea region of Ukraine and support for rebels in eastern Ukraine.

Boeing’s CST-100 spaceship would launch aboard Atlas 5 rockets, built by United Launch Alliance, a partnership of Lockheed Martin Corp and Boeing. SpaceX, which already has a $1.3 billion NASA contract to fly cargo to the space station, intends to upgrade its Dragon freighter to carry astronauts.

NASA has said that in addition to test flights, the awards would include options for between two and six operational missions.

By flying astronauts commercially from the United States, NASA could end Russia’s monopoly on space station crew transport. The agency pays $70 million per person for rides on Russian Soyuz capsules, the only flights available for astronauts since the retirement of the U.S. space shuttle fleet in 2011.

China, the only other country to fly people in orbit besides the United States and Russia, is not a member of the 15-nation space station partnership.

NASA has spent about $1.5 billion since 2010 investing in partner companies under its Commercial Crew program. Boeing and SpaceX have won most of NASA’s development funds.

The companies retain ownership of their vehicles and can sell rides to customers outside of NASA, including private tourists.

“The work that we have underway  is making the possibility for everyone to someday see our planet Earth from space,” said Kennedy Space Center director and former astronaut Bob Cabana.

“I know a lot of us are cheering on the success of our Commercial Crew program, not because of what it means to NASA  but what it means to human spaceflight for everyone.”

The program is based on a public-private partnership that created two cargo lines to the station, a research laboratory that flies about 260 miles (418 km) above Earth.

In addition to SpaceX, NASA has a $1.9 billion contract with Orbital Sciences Corp for resupply missions.

For Boeing, the win in space is important symbolically, said Christian Mayes, an industrials analyst at Edward Jones in St. Louis, who rates Boeing stock a “hold.”

“But financially, people need to come back to Earth,” said Mayes. Boeing’s space and network businesses contribute less than 10 percent of total revenue, and a $4.2 billion contract over multiple years “is not going to move the needle,” he added.

Boeing shares closed about 0.8 percent higher.

Fed up with constant delays and flight cancellations, disgruntled Pakistani passengers prevented a senior politician from boarding an airplane after he turned up at least two hours late for the flight.

A video posted online shows a group of passengers shouting “Shame on you” as they blocked Rehman Malik, an influential former interior minister, from entering the plane and then chasing him back to the terminal building.

The plane, operated by state-run Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), eventually took off from the port city of Karachi for Islamabad without Malik on board.

An airline spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment.

Another politician, Ramesh Kumar Wakwani, was also barred from boarding the aircraft after turning up late.

Malik defended himself, saying he was not responsible for the delay.

“(W)ho shd be blamed for this delay? PIA or me? Obviously PIA,” he wrote on his Twitter page.

The state airline, plagued by financial losses and often criticised for its inefficiency, is known for delaying flights to accommodate the schedules of important politicians, sometimes making ordinary passengers wait for hours to take off.

Ukraine’s prime minister told the defence ministry on Wednesday to ensure that government forces were on full battle alert despite a 12-day ceasefire with Russian-backed separatists.

“Russia will not give us peace so I am asking the defence minister for full battle readiness,” said Arseny Yatseniuk in comments in keeping with the hawkish stance he has been taking over negotiations with separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine.

Enacting the peace plan of President Petro Poroshenko did not mean “relaxing the work of the defence and interior ministries”, he said. “Full readiness (is required). We can’t believe anyone, especially the Russians.”

British base (SBA) and Republic police have arrested eight men and seized large quantities of drugs and electronic equipment during two joint anti-gambling raids in the villages of Trachoni and Ypsonas in Limassol on Wednesday.

The 13-hour raids, carried out by 84 officers – 60 from the SBA – netted eight suspects, 29 cannabis plants, 260 tablets believed to be LSD, 45 grams of cannabis, 300 computers, 20 television sets, seven slot machines, and two roulette wheels, an SBA statement said.

One other man was also arrested by CyPol on weapons charges and for carrying tear gas.

Also found was a replica of an automatic machine gun and what have been described as five detonators, which could be used to cause an explosion.

Two of the suspects have been charged and released, the statement said. Two others were being interviewed, and four were due in court on Wednesday, expected to be remanded in custody.

The raids were the result of shared intelligence between the two police forces.

“This was a very large operation and was only made possible by the excellent shared intelligence between ourselves and CyPol,” SBA police superintendant George Kiteos said.

“This was another good example of our efforts to tackle the problem of illegal gambling and everything else that goes with it, including, as we saw today, drugs.”

SBA police had to employ the use of a large crane from RAF Akrotiri to load all of the seized items into a 40 foot container found at the scene.

The investigation continues.

The leaders of the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities decided to accelerate talks aimed at reunifying the divided island, it was announced on Wednesday.

President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu have also agreed to meet twice a month.

The announcement was made by the UN following a meeting between the two leaders.

Speaking afterwards, Anastasiades said “there has been a constructive discussion” highlighting the need for the two sides to engage in a substative dialogue to change the current situation.

Asked if he is optimistic, the President replied that he did not want to make any statements that might be perceived as engaging in a “blame game.”

By Kate Kelland

THE first volunteer in a fast-tracked British safety trial of an experimental Ebolavaccine made by GlaxoSmithKline received the injection on Wednesday, trial organisers said.

The candidate Ebola vaccine, which GSK co-developed with the United States National Institutes of Health, has also been given to 10 volunteers taking part in a separate trial in the United States, and so far there were no signs of any serious adverse reactions, doctors said.

The vaccine is designed to specifically target the Zaire strain of Ebola, the one circulating in the West Africa epidemic, the worst Ebola outbreak recorded.

Since the vaccine contains no infectious Ebola virus material, only one of its genes, experts say there are no concerns that any of the subjects will contract the deadly disease.

Latest data from the World Health Organisation (WHO) show about 2,500 people have died of Ebola in an outbreak that started in March and has infected almost 5,000 people in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria.

The British trial is being run by a team at Oxford University.

A spokeswoman for the Oxford team said the first volunteer in the UK trial was vaccinated early on Wednesday, but gave no further information. She said more details would be given later.

Anthony Fauci of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases told a U.S. Senate panel on Tuesday that “no red flags” indicating serious adverse reactions have been found in the 10 healthy volunteers vaccinated there so far.

The trials are seeking to determine not only whether the vaccine is safe, or causes adverse side effects, but also whether it triggers the production of antibodies against the Ebola virus.

The aim is to complete the tests by the end of 2014, after which vaccines could be deployed on an emergency basis.

GSK says it plans to begin making up to about 10,000 doses of the vaccine at the same time as the initial clinical trials, so that if they are successful, the vaccine could be made available immediately for an emergency immunisation programme.

Ben Neuman, a virologist at the University of Reading who is not involved in the vaccine studies, said it was important not to get ahead of the results.

“There is clearly a need for this vaccine, but what is not clear is whether it will work well enough to protect someone from Ebola,” he said.

He said the experimental shot “uses some of the best available technology to give the immune system a good long look at its target, a small but vitally important part of the virus”, but added: “We won’t really be able to tell whether the vaccine works until it is tested on the ground in West Africa.”

Study data from an animal trial of an Ebola vaccine similar to this GSK one showed that it was effective for at least five weeks in lab monkeys but required boosting with an additional vaccine to extend its protection to 10 months.

Without the departed Luis Suarez and injured Daniel Sturridge, Liverpool returned to the Champions League with a win but face a challenge to recover the free-scoring form that put them back among the European elite.

A last-minute penalty converted by captain Steven Gerrard, after Dani Abalo had levelled for Bulgarian champions Ludogorets, following an exquisite 82nd minute opener by Mario Balotelli, gave Anfield reason to cheer on Tuesday.

Reality, however, soon quelled any fears of uncontrolled optimism as manager Brendan Rodgers and Gerrard both called for improvement if any dreams of the club’s halcyon days in Europe are to be revived.

“We are not yet at the level we were last season, but we will get there,” said Rodgers. “It was a great night in the end because we won. Ludogorets played very well and to get the win was very important.”

“We did OK, but it wasn’t better than OK,” said Gerrard. “There’s a lot to learn…”

The former England captain, who resigned from national service following the national team’s disappointing early exit at the World Cup, had more praise for striker Balotelli, a 16 million pounds ($26.11 million) recruit from AC Milan in August.

“You have to give Mario credit,” said Gerrard. “It didn’t go his way for long periods, but the sign of a good goalscorer is to keep going and get a chance…”

MORE STATIC

However, Liverpool clearly face a struggle to find their former fluency with the more static, if statuesque, Italian at centre-forward in lieu of the swift incisive scissor-cutting combinations provided by Suarez and Sturridge at their best.

Suarez, who scored 31 Premier League goals, and Sturridge, who netted 21 times, revelled in angled running and sharp-passing interplays, often involving Brazilian playmaker Philippe Coutinho and roaming 19-year-old England winger Raheem Sterling.

Without the Uruguayan’s movement and precision, Liverpool’s attack appeared predictably focused on Balotelli’s dependable but less expansive leadership which made it more difficult for the midfield to find moving targets with their passing.

As The Daily Telegraph’s match report put it: “In Sturridge’s absence, the onus was on Balotelli to provide forward impetus, but the cartographers will not need protective gloves when handling the Italian’s heat map.”

Liverpool, without the goalscorers of last season, are again a work in progress as Rodgers seeks a new design. The cutting edge has gone, but the manager has a bigger, and stronger, squad from which to mould a solid replacement.

It may not dazzle as often, or have the flair of the side that finished second last term, but should prove capable of handling the dual challenge at home and abroad, starting with Saturday’s Premier League trip to West Ham United.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has asked fans and critics for patience with England striker Danny Welbeck and his team after a forlorn display in their 2-0 Champions League defeat at Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday.

Wenger, who takes his team to second-placed Aston Villa for a key Premier League fixture on Saturday, admitted Arsenal were well beaten by a dominant Dortmund whose pressing game squeezed his team into submission and exposed all their frailties.

“It’s very difficult to go into any individual assessment of any player because as a team we were not at the requested level,” said Wenger.”They were very, very strong in midfield, yes, stronger than us in midfield,” he said. “It was very difficult…”

Wenger, who has guided Arsenal into the Champions League group stages for 17 successive years, was reluctant to dwell on his team’s defects until he has seen videos of the game again, but defended Welbeck, a 16 million pounds transfer window deadline day signing from Manchester United.

“Danny will improve – we don’t have to make a problem of that,” he told reporters. “He had a very lively first half. He had two or three good chances, but couldn’t finish them. There was one obvious one… We have to be patient with him.”

Welbeck wasted his easiest of three chances in the first half when, with the score still goalless, he turned on to a pass from Aaron Ramsey, but steered his shot wide.

It was, said one commentator, an example of the bright movement that showed why Arsenal has signed him and, at the same time, a miss that explained why United had been happy to sell him.

Welbeck scored both goals in England’s Euro 2016 qualifier in Switzerland on September 8, just a week after his transfer, but he has not scored a Premier League goal since March 8 when Manchester United won 3-0 at West Bromwich Albion.

His profligacy was more starkly exposed either side of the interval when Dortmund’s strikers Ciro Immobile and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang completed rapid breakaways with clinical finishes.

By the end, Dortmund had accumulated 22 shots to Arsenal’s four, prompting suggestions it was “like men against boys” and exposing the English team’s lack of a defensive midfielder to protect a fragile defence.

Captain Mikel Arteta, retained by Wenger when he rejected a chance to re-sign Cesc Fabregas, who instead joined Chelsea, was overrun and struggled with his passing under pressure.

The diminutive left side of Arsenal’s team – left-back Kieron Gibbs and midfielders Jack Wilshere and, when not switching to the right, German World Cup winner Mesut Ozil – appeared to lack the required power, pace and height to cope up with the pressure.

Others, including Chile forward Alexis Sanchez, were anonymous on the night and laboured to make any impact.

“Arsenal papered over the cracks last season,” their former striker and Wales international John Hartson told the BBC, adding “they could have conceded five or six… Without overreacting, it was a really woeful defensive performance.”

Wenger’s subdued mood suggested he had realised the inclusion of 19-year-old Spanish defender Hector Bellerin, given his debut in the daunting Westfalenstadion, was also a gamble that did not pay off.